Coolest Butterfly Ever...

[77transam]

Thought you guys/gals would get a kick out of this.
I Was coming in from work today when I noticed this little guy (or girl?) in front of the door on the porch...Wasn't tryin' to move or fly away, just sittin' there chilling out...So me bein' the nature-lover I am, I reach down to try to see if he's still breathin' and when I stuck my finger out to touch him, he hopped right on! Didn't try to fly away or anything.

So I'm checkin' him out to see if maybe he's got a busted wing or somethin' and he proceeds to check me out by crawlin' up my sleeve. Goes all the way to my shoulder and puts it in park right there! Fine by me, always willing to give a friend a lift when needed. So I takes him in the house and hooked him up w/a little sugar-water cocktail and MAN, he tore it up!!

Anyhoo, I'm figurin' he's either:
A) On his last leg and deserved a little tenderness 'fore he goes to that big flower bed in the sky
B) Or maybe he was jus' tired
C) It's a girl and couldn't resist my masculine charms and heart-stopping good looks!!!

(I'm figgerin' A, cause I think their adult life cycles 'bout 2 to 4 weeks:confused2

By the way, it's a Red-spotted Purple ( Limenitis Arthemis Astyanax), don't see these too much, mostly black/tiger swallowtails 'round here, so when one pops up it's a treat! (I think these are the purr-tee-us!)
(P.S. Released 'em onto a small maple out front for cover)

 

[EddieWalker]

Neat pictures and it sounds like a great experience.

Thanks for sharing,

Eddie

 

[arrabil]

I guess you won't like hearing it.... but we've got hundreds, if not thousands, of those things around this year. You have to beat them away with a stick. As you've more or less already noticed. I can't walk out of the house without them swarming me down the stairs.

EDIT: Our 80lb dog loves chasing them and jumping at them in the air. I don't think its gotten a single one yet. Which is particularly humorous.

My wife plants butterfly attracting plants. This year those are the popular ones. Last year we had so many orange and yellow Monarchs it wasn't funny. The year before they were some kind of black and red butterfly that were prominent.

Five years ago it was these five inch wide moths:

 

[rekees4300]

"but we've got hundreds, if not thousands, of those things around this year"

ditto ... brush hogged the pasture and there were clouds of these, they love to feed on the thistles. Blue cloudless skies, fresh air, and butterflies all around is a priceless spiritual experience.


"A) On his last leg and deserved a little tenderness 'fore he goes to that big flower bed in the sky"

Yes, his wings turning brown indicate his time is short.

 

[beppington]

"I shore do thankya fer the delicious beverage, kind sir"

 

[SPIKER]

This year seems to be lots more than normal (normal since the early 80's anyhow) growing up it seemed there were LOADS of butterfly's When I bought my place there was only a few wild flowers on the place, so I bought lots of seed mixes (usually the out of season stuff) and sprinkled it around. NOW there are lots of wild flowers blooming (mostly done this time of year or nearly done.) I brushed hogged a bunch the last few weeks and was driving around the big patches of flowers. the bugs seemed to be grateful... Early spring is nice there as we put in a LOT of bulbs as well (crocuses hyacinths daffodils & tulips iris ect.)

sping time is nice to take a walk. we have a few past pets that we have planted lots of flowers on and the hillside is bright in aprl/may.

Mark

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Many years ago I was building a forest service bridge in the mountains, and was attacked by swallowtails. I think they were after the salt on my skin. Those suckers are strong! They latched onto my arms and wouldn't turn loose. I just let them ride along, and after 10 minutes of lapping my sweat, they flew off. I never thought of butterflies as needing salt, but I guess sometimes they do.

 

[Johndeere3720]

I guess you won't like hearing it.... but we've got hundreds, if not thousands, of those things around this year. You have to beat them away with a stick. As you've more or less already noticed. I can't walk out of the house without them swarming me down the stairs.

EDIT: Our 80lb dog loves chasing them and jumping at them in the air. I don't think its gotten a single one yet. Which is particularly humorous.

My wife plants butterfly attracting plants. This year those are the popular ones. Last year we had so many orange and yellow Monarchs it wasn't funny. The year before they were some kind of black and red butterfly that were prominent.

Five years ago it was these five inch wide moths:

sounds like you need a cab tractor. :laughing:

 

[Johndeere3720]

Thought you guys/gals would get a kick out of this.
I Was coming in from work today when I noticed this little guy (or girl?) in front of the door on the porch...Wasn't tryin' to move or fly away, just sittin' there chilling out...So me bein' the nature-lover I am, I reach down to try to see if he's still breathin' and when I stuck my finger out to touch him, he hopped right on! Didn't try to fly away or anything.

So I'm checkin' him out to see if maybe he's got a busted wing or somethin' and he proceeds to check me out by crawlin' up my sleeve. Goes all the way to my shoulder and puts it in park right there! Fine by me, always willing to give a friend a lift when needed. So I takes him in the house and hooked him up w/a little sugar-water cocktail and MAN, he tore it up!!

Anyhoo, I'm figurin' he's either:
A) On his last leg and deserved a little tenderness 'fore he goes to that big flower bed in the sky
B) Or maybe he was jus' tired
C) It's a girl and couldn't resist my masculine charms and heart-stopping good looks!!!

(I'm figgerin' A, cause I think their adult life cycles 'bout 2 to 4 weeks:confused2

By the way, it's a Red-spotted Purple ( Limenitis Arthemis Astyanax), don't see these too much, mostly black/tiger swallowtails 'round here, so when one pops up it's a treat! (I think these are the purr-tee-us!)
(P.S. Released 'em onto a small maple out front for cover)

sounds like a nice experience. I havent seen a butterfly here since july. They must all be at your place. :thumbsup::laughing:

 

[ShenandoahJoe]

Butterflies like to hang on to my shirt and my hat while I'm mowing the big lawn. Generates a lot of laughter from the adolescent population, but so do most things I attempt.